Ca C’est Paris! H&M Launches Its Collaboration with Sonia Rykiel

A gaggle of perfectly well behaved geese, prim as French schoolchildren, waddles down the catwalk, opening an over-the-top hallucinogenic circus parade to celebrate the “Sonia Rykiel pour H&M” collections (one lingerie, the other sweater dressing). The last time I was in the Grand Palais on the Champs-Élysées it was 10:00 in the morning and Karl Lagerfeld had transformed the place into a crazily chic barn dance for Chanel; now it’s 10:00 at night, and the palais resembles a sexy country fair (complete with cafes that have witty names like Brasserie Lipps.) The fowl are followed by carnival floats flaunting nearly naked models (hey, it’s a lingerie line) literally swinging from crystal chandeliers and lolling on satin mattresses. There’s even a team of high-stepping baton twirlers, though they’re wearing brass-buttoned uniforms rather than mere underpants. “We’re always looking for a way to surprise the customer. We always try to find a new angle,” explains H&M’s Margareta van den Bosch when she’s asked about this latest collaboration, the first time H&M has partnered with a high-end designer in the creation of a lingerie line. She describes the result, which ranges from lacy boy shorts to silk peignoirs to velvet dressing gowns as “very glamorous, especially for Christmas.”Nathalie Rykiel, Sonia’s daughter and the company’s creative director, says it was fun to develop a luxurious product in a different way. “Luxe isn’t necessarily about money,” she explains, adding that she’s always carried lower-priced items like T-shirts, candles, and teddy bears in the Rykiel boutiques, “to make women dream, but make it affordable too, so the dream is not just about frustration.” When she’s asked if there were any challenges that were in fact insurmountable, Rykiel admits to just one limitation: feathers, a hallmark of the regular SR line. &ldquo;Apart from not using the feathers, we could do anything! Cheap doesn’t have to mean bad quality—it just means knowing how to make something less expensively.” And she is truly putting her money where her pretty mouth is: The H&M/SR lingerie will be sold in Rykiel’s upscale shops at the same time it’s offered in the decidedly more clamorous, less glamorous H&Ms. Rykiel calls this beautiful lingerie “a present to offer women after such a tough year,” and it’s a gift that keeps on giving: In February, H&M will launch a line of classic striped and rhinestone-bedecked Rykiel knitwear for women and girls. Does Nathalie have a filmy favorite in the 70-piece lingerie collection? Yes, the black silk bra with the ecru chiffon flowers saucily decorating the center of each cup. Rykiel thinks you could wear it under a sheer tank, or at home under nothing at all. In addition to the merry-go-round and the macaroons there is something else to love about Rykiel’s version of a country fair: In an effort to provide immediate gratification, there is a shop selling the very lingerie we are celebrating. I am crushed to see that, though there is a plethora of brightly hued panties and bras on hand (Nathalie’s favorite brassiere is here) the delicious silk chiffon $49.95 camislip I have my eye on is nowhere to be found. But I cheer up when I remember that on December 5 this item, and the rest of the delectable collection, will be available worldwide.